He knew what it was like to go hungry far too well. He'd lived most of his life with that feeling and it wasn't going to go away now. But he thought that maybe one day he'd have a better life, one where he didn't have to scrounge and steal. So when Morgana offered him that chance he couldn't help but take it.
It wasn't until the forest he realised he was losing who he was in the process. No matter how safe his mother would've wanted him to be she would have wanted him to stay true to himself in the process.
And anyway he could tell, Merlin would be worth it.